[damodar]

Originally Posted by srvm

SKC-auto: Did you travel on this route as planned? Are the roads in good condition after Nivar & Burevi cyclones?
A BHPian is planning to travel Bangalore-Bhubaneswar and has posted in that thread. Your inputs on latest conditions on this route will help both Tirupati and BBSR travellers. Thanks.

I traveled via this route on the 15th January and road is in excellent condition with some bad patches in the village sections. Must say quite a stress free drive with hardly any truck traffic.

[luvurride]

Hi All,
Which route exactly is good post Chittoor now to Tirupati? I don't mind doing few kms extra but don't want to spoil the RFTs.

[srivibhu]

Can someone share a post Chittoor route? Of the multiple options which is decent.
I will do an early start from Bangalore in the morning.
I plan to be back the same day so maybe part of the drive back to Chittoor may be in the dark. Appreciate any help.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by srivibhu

Can someone share a post Chittoor route? Of the multiple options which is decent.
I will do an early start from Bangalore in the morning.
I plan to be back the same day so maybe part of the drive back to Chittoor may be in the dark. Appreciate any help.

Originally Posted by luvurride

Hi All,
Which route exactly is good post Chittoor now to Tirupati? I don't mind doing few kms extra but don't want to spoil the RFTs.

You can refer to few posts before this as couple of BHPians shared their experience. I had also shared the route i took.
Basically you will get into Chittoor town and then to Kothapalli Mitta - Penumuru- and then you have two options. Either go straight to join back to regular route towards Chandragiri-Tirupati OR drive towards Vedurukuppam - Rayalu Cheruvu - Tirupati.
Remember all are village roads and many are narrow as well.

-Ravi
-rAVI

[itwasntme]

This was my exact route: https://goo.gl/maps/P6fTsXRvaCAyAmM79

Keep in mind that the journey time depends significantly on when you are transiting through. We had a breeze driving through.

[srivibhu]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

This was my exact route: https://goo.gl/maps/P6fTsXRvaCAyAmM79

Keep in mind that the journey time depends significantly on when you are transiting through. We had a breeze driving through.

I just did almost this route onward and on my way back now. Had to take the Kanipakam left and then a right back to the road due to a closure. Otherwise not a bad route. Small bad stretches are anyway there.

Also for early morning starts be aware that you will have ample fog from Bangalore to Mulbagal. At least for next 20 days.
I started at 5 40 am from Mahadevapura, reached Mulbagal around 7 am. Visibility not great with me doing a steady 50 to 60 for about 30 to 40 km.

[srivibhu]

A quick update on my trip and some info for people who wish to travel to Tirumala. As with Tirumala, things will change.!

We left early morning (5 45am) as we had booked special Darshan at 1.30pm.
The exact route is below
https://goo.gl/maps/NYN1Pesr6whBSTbH8

We reached Thirachanur at 10 15am. so not a bad time. Would have been faster if not for the really poor visibility and fog from Hoskote toll to Mulbagal.
We started back from Tirupati Bheema's post lunch at 4 15pm and got home 8 15pm.

The Chittor by pass is partially done. The diversions (where you need to take the side lanes) are not well marked and not good. Also the diversion through Kanipakkam is also not great. But nothing too bad. It's drivable. I drove my Baleno and it was not a bad drive. Though if it does rain, it's going to become an awful mess.
The post Chittor - Tirupati road is mostly patched up as well with some 4 or 5 diversions for new road construction.

I am used to driving in worse roads so it was not a big deal for me, but if you do not like that, would strongly recommend driving only in day light, at least the Chittor bypass to Tirupati bit or choose alternate routes recommended.

For the Darshan
1. Even though we had only 1 30pm slot, we entered at 12pm and were allowed inside. No fuss and no crowd or pushing until the temple Vendi Vaikili gates.We walked in relaxed until that point. Post that the usual Tirumala tightly packed crowd. but good Darshan.
If you do not want to be in close contact with others, that's not going to happen. So carry a very good mask and sanitiser.
We were out by 12 40pm.

2. Laddoo counter - if you pre book laddoos with online tickets, then you can go directly to the first floor, show ticket and collect them. There is no crowd there. If not, paying and buying is a mess and crowded and takes a really long time and only in ground floor. Would strongly recommend to avoid it. We wanted some extra, so stood in 3 different queues for about 1.2 hours and then gave up (2 counter guys just closed the counter and left, third took an eternity to move!)

3. Varaha swamy temple is closed for Darshan.

4. I always do a day trip from Bangalore, and one travel essential for me is sunglasses as the sun is right in your eyes both onward and return.

[luvurride]

Just completed a Tirupati trip. Both ways drove through Chittoor town. However, did not take the Penumuru route, rather struck to the main route. But that stretch until you turn off to Tirupati from the highway(Rangampet cross) is pretty bad with pile up at the railway gate. After Rangampet cross the 6 laning is about 70% complete till Tirupati.

Crowd has picked up at Tirumala and hence the momentary peace that was enjoyed till December is no more.

[gadadhar]

Did Bangalore Tirupati during the weekend. Started at 4.30 am from JP Nagar, followed Google maps through Chittor bypass and reached hotel in Tirupati at 9.30 am with breakfast stop. Traffic was very thin, there was fog in the Ghat section, but was not too much of a trouble and lasted only for 15 minutes.

We were booked for Saturday 7 pm darshan and reached Tirumala around 5.45 pm. Vehicle checking at Alipari was swift and traffic was less on the ghats and on the top. We could find a parking near ATC counter on the road side, entered the queue at 6.15 and exited before 7 pm. As mentioned by others, there is crowd once you enter the inner sanctum and don't expect any social distancing norms there. Laddu counter would have taken less than half and hour, but as usual lost way to the parking and had to take a jeep finally to reach near the ATC counter.

[DreamcarFerrari]

Planning a road trip to Bangalore in my 911.
Need few suggestions please.
Route from my place is via Nellore and Tirupathi to Bangalore.
Is there any COCO petrol pump along this route?.
How terrible is the road from Tirupathi to Bangalore?

[gurminder_81]

I made a one day trip to Srikalahasti Temple on Sunday (14th Feb) with my friend.

Here are the road conditions as observed:

Onward and Return route was exactly the same.
Bangalore(Sarjapur Main Rd Area) --> KR Puram --> Chittoor --> Karveti Nagar --> Puttur --> Renigunta Bypass --> Srikalahasti Temple

Road Conditions:
BLR --> Till Chittoor: 4 lane fantastic roads. If you have cruise control, this is one of the sections to use it after crossing Hoskote toll Plaza.

Chittoor --> Karveti Nagar --> Puttur: Single lane wide road. One can easily do 80/90 KMPH. No lorry/Truck traffic. Very relaxed drive. One has to slow down while crossing towns. I noticed that multiple speed bumps were actually removed on this section. Tx to whosoever took that initiative. This was specially helpful during the return journey during the evening time

Puttur --> Renigunta bypass --> 4 lane road, having good and bad patches. High traffic and some lorry/truck traffic is also there which slows you down.

Renigunta bypass --> Srikalahasti Temple: Single lane road. High truck traffic and high car traffic as well. Not sure if it was because of Sunday.

Onward Journey:
Started from Home: 6:15 AM
Reached Srikalahasti Temple: 01:00 PM

Includes a quick ~25 min break at Woodys for filter coffee(also ate the bf which we got packed from home).

Return Journey:
Started from Srikalahasti Temple: 6:20 PM
Reached home: 12:15 AM

Includes a very quick ~30 min dinner break at Chittoor at Sri Vishnu Bhavan.

Toll Details (Amount is for return journey)
Hoskote Toll: 30 INR (20 + 10)
Mulbagal Toll: 110 INR (70 + 40)
Nangli Toll: 40 INR (25 + 15)
Mahasamudram Toll: 120 INR (80 + 40)
S V Puram Toll: 105 INR (70 + 35)

Total toll paid: 405 INR

The Car: 6+ yrs old Honda Amaze 1.5 iDtec SX with 95K+ on the odo, returned an overall mileage of 22.3 kmpl over a distance of 613 kms as reported on the MID.

[BIL2_HGi10]

Hello All,
I am planning to visit Srikalahasti on coming Friday.
Can you please assist me the following information:

1. Is there any requirement for RT-PCR Negative Report and/or E-Pass?

2. Which route should I take? I will be traveling from Electronic City, South Bangalore.

3. Kindly assist me with some pit-stops enroute as I would be traveling with a senior citizen who is also diabetic - which means will need to stop for food as well as for bio-breaks.

Kindly suggest.

Thanks in advance!

Best Regards

[saisree]

A new toll plaza has come up on the new six lane road at Gadanki. Comes between puthalapattu and Kasipentla Heritage dairy. The toll charges are as below. I see them very costly

[shashank.nk]

Anyone travelled to Tirupati recently ? I have an early morning darshan slot for the 30th July and will be leaving Bengaluru on the 29th.

Do we need an e-pass and RTPCR negative report while entering AP and re-entering KA from AP ? Also, which is the best route to take now ? Google maps suggests the usual route via Chittoor-Kanipakam-Putalapattu-Chandragiri-Tirumala but wanted to know if its doable in a sedan with 5+luggage, the last time in Jan there was a lot of construction going on near Chittoor and I see a short stretch near Varigapalli marked as under construction.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

Anyone travelled to Tirupati recently ? I have an early morning darshan slot for the 30th July and will be leaving Bengaluru on the 29th.

Do we need an e-pass and RTPCR negative report while entering AP and re-entering KA from AP ? Also, which is the best route to take now ? Google maps suggests the usual route via Chittoor-Kanipakam-Putalapattu-Chandragiri-Tirumala but wanted to know if its doable in a sedan with 5+luggage, the last time in Jan there was a lot of construction going on near Chittoor and I see a short stretch near Varigapalli marked as under construction.

Bangalore to Tirupati route is a blast now, been frequently travelling on this route since last one year.
Chittoor by pass is fully open and its a runway. Check out the dash cam video below.

AP border normal check happening for alcohol or other items only.
While returning to Bangalore, after Hoskote toll there's a team who keeps stopping people mostly non KA cars for covid RTPCR. So far I haven't got stopped by them.

https://youtu.be/YVz3fQ0cCHc